Sheet feeding machine



March 13, 1951 5 GAYNOR 2,545,351

SHEET FEEDING MACHINE Filed May 20, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 F g' 2 i1 gm.- Ill 5 3 v I 5 INGVENTOR,

21 By IHIUII mlnnl'.

March 13, 1951 s, GAYNOR 2,545,351

SHEET FEEDING MACHINE Filed May 20, 1948 34 l b/02?! n3 13 27 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 U Q f w k F5 -K Y I r74! INVENTOR. I Q Simon Guqnor. 69 5 7 14 BY Z ".0 11 Flg %5 9 68 ATTORNEY.

March 13, 1951 GAYNOR SHEET FEEDING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 20, 1948 Y WE ZN m T w A IN YENTOR. Simon Baqnor.

Patented Mar. 13, 1951 UNITED S'lAT SHEET FEEDING. MACHINE Simon Gaynor, Philadelphia, Pa., assignor t American Business Systems, a copartnership consisting of Robert Weinstock and Simon Gayn or, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application May 20, 1948, SerialNo. 28,160

18 Claims. 1

The invention relates to improvements in sheet feeding machines and, more particularly; to a machine for feeding single or manifold sheets from a stack into a typewriter or other business machine.

Sheet feeding machines of the general character'of the machine of the present disclosure utilize means to advance the stack of sheets pro-- gressively as sheets are successively withdrawn so as to locate the foremost sheet in the stack in a position for engagement by sheet feeding mechanisms. Machines of that character are fully disclosed in the pending applications of Fred Schwarzer, Serial No. 698,001, filed September 19, 1946, and Serial No. 732,212, filed March 4, 1947, which applications are owned by the assignee' of the instant application.

The instant machine is characterized by the inclusion of novel sheet-picker mechanism, which operates to engage and withdraw the foremost sheet from a stationary stack of sheetsirrespecw tive of the number of sheets in the stack within the capacity of the machine; and it is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide such a sheetpicker mechanism. Y

' Another object is to provide, in a sheet feeding machine. a novel association of parts, operating in a single operating cycle, to penetrate and grip asheet and carry said sheet from a stack into a position of discharge, where the sheet is positively released automatically.

Another object is to provide a novelly constructed automaticsheet penetrating and gripping mechanism initially actuable to grip and subsequently actuable to release the sheet upon reaching'the limits of its operative movement.

Another object is to provide, in a sheet feeding machine, a hopper or rack for a stack of sheets with extensible means adjustable'to accommodate sheets of a size greater than the size of the hopper.

' Another object is to provide, in a sheet feeding machine, an easily actuated, simply constructed sheet gripping and feeding mechanism.

Another object is to provide a sheet feeding machine with sheet gripping and feeding mechanism'which is wholly concealed from view when in normal ineffective position and, consequently, is less likely to become misadjusted or damaged.

Another object is to provide a sheet gripping and feeding mechanism for a sheet feeding ma chine which embodies 'a minimum of parts and is easily and quickly adjusted to adapt the machinefor handling single or manifold sheets.

Other and further objects of the present inven--' I tion will be apparent from the followin descrip-- tion and claims, and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings which, by way of illustration, show an exemplary embodiment and the principles thereof. Other embodiments of the invention embodying the same principle may be used, andstructural changes may be made as desired by those skilled in the art, without departing from the present invention and the purview of the appended claims. y

In the drawings: I

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a sheet feeding machineembodying the features of the present invention, showing it attached to a support.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the machine.

Fig. 3 is a front elevational view of the machine as viewed alon line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a rear elevational view of the machine as viewed along line 4-'-4.of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged vertical transverse sectional view of the sheet feeding machine showing parts in elevation, and omitting the standard.

Fig- 6 is a fragmentary detail plan view of the sheet.gripping mechanism, taken substantiall in the plane of line 66 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a transverse sectional view of the sheet gripping mechanism, taken substantially along line |-l of Fig. 6, showing parts in section.

. Fig. 8 is an elevational View of the rear end of the mechanism shown in Fig. 6, taken substantially along line 8-8 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 9 is an elevational view of the front end of the sheet gripping" mechanism, taken substantially along line 9-9 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 10 is an inverted'plan view of the sheet gripping mechanism taken substantially along line l0-Hl of Fig. 8. 7 r

Fig. 11 is an elevational view of the actuating plunger and mounting, as viewed in the direction of the arrows I ll l of Fig. 5.

Fig 12 isa top plan view of the mounting shown in Fig. 11. 7

Fig. 13 is a side elevational View of the plunger and mounting, viewed in the direction of the ar- 13 and I4 telescopically associated and secured in an adjusted position relative to each other as by means of a thumb bolt l5 operative to tightly clamp the telescoped end portion of the standard ably is cast, and it includes a hub 22 liaviiig a leg or arm 23 extending from-one side thereof and:

provided on its upper face with a-pairof .transversely projecting lugs 24 Anupwardly projecting arm 25 of said bracket I9 likewise has a pair of transversely extending lugs 26 adjacent itsuppermost end. These lugs are disposed in a plane substantially at right angles to the'pla'nd of the lugs 24, thereby constituting a seat for supportingan openfaced hopper, generally in dicated at 21.

The hopper 21 preferably is constructed t sheet material, and it includes a back wall 28 and an integral bottom wall:29-disposed.at right angles to the baokwall 28. The bottomwall 29 is seated on and suitably secured to thetransversely projecting lugs 24of the bracket IS. The back wall 28 is provided on its outwardly disposed or rear face With a vertical channel3 I across'which a mounting plate-32 is firmly secured as by welding, The mounting plate is secured, as by means of mounting screws 33,- to the transverse lugs 26 on the bracket arm 25. It should be quite evident, thereforathat the hopper is-firmly'secured to the bracket l9- and. may be. adjustably secured in any position best suited-for use.- As

illustrated, the hopper preferably is positioned.

inclined rearwardly from a substantially vertical plane for purposes to-be best understooda's the description proceeds.

Mounted within the hopper 2! is a pair of transversely adjustable side Walls 34; each or. which consists of a fiat plate having a'flange35 on one edge thereon An adjusting screw 36 is threaded into'each flange 35'for mounting the plates for adjustment alongrespective-slots 31- in the back wall- 28; This construction affior'ds means whereby the side walls 34 may be moved inwardly or outwardly to adapt-the hopper tore= ceive a stack of sheets (not shown)- of various sizes and retain said sheets insubstantial= alignment. Sheets are arranged inthe hopper'ZTflat against the back wall 28 with their lower aligned edges resting upon the bottom'wall 29.-

The sheets in the stack may be individual sheetsormanifold sheets of the kind commonly usedin connection with the operation'of business machines, and they are adaptedtobe selectively and individually withdrawn from-the hopper and discharged in a position for ready insertion into a typewriter or other business machine; To this end,.novel means is provided in the present rnachine for positively engagingzthe'topmostor forc most sheet of the stack: at selected intervals-and Withdrawing said sheet from the stack into a position clear of the bottom wall 29,.whereupon said sheet is released automatically and discharged.

The sheet feeding mechanism, generally, in

cludes a pivotally mounted substantially U- shaped-lever 4|, having itsupwardly extending.

provided with inwardly disposed marginal flanges 44 within the confines of which the lever ii operates. The flanges 44 on the upper ends of the end walls 43 overlie the end edges of a rearwardly extending top wall portion 45 of the hopper back Wall 28 and may be suitably secured thereto, as by welding. Additional rigidity is afforded by riveting. or otherwise securing end flanges 45a (Fig. 5) of the hopper back wall 28 to said end Walls so as to provide a substantially one-piece structure.

The upwardly disposed free end portions of the lever arms 42 are pivoted, as at 46, to the end walls 43-;.and the-bight portion 41 of said lever is disposed closely. adjacent to the hopper bottom wall 29 In operation, the lever is adapted to have. reciprocal rotation about its pivots 45 so as to carry the bight portion 41 toward and away from a; stack of sheets arranged in the hopper. Movement of the lever may be best obtained by providing. manually actuable: means, generally indicatedat 48. in Fig. l, which means may include' a mounting plate 49 and a'manually actua-ble' bell-crank lever 51 pivoted to said plate at 52. One arm 53 of said lever is connected to the wire 54 -ofa-Bowden cable 55, the other end of which-carries a plunger 56;

Referring new to the disclosure in Fig.5, it will be; observed that the plunger 56 is positioned in alignment withand below a crossbar 51. firmlysecured by screws 58 to rearwardly extending end portions59=of the lever sidearms 42. Such positioning of. the plunger may be retained by the provision of.a bracket 59 on the rear face of the plate 32. Thisbracket may be secured to the plate 3 2cas by meansof screws 6|, access to which may be obtained through screw driver. openings 62: in the hopper back wall 28.- It will thus be observedthat the channel-3| in the hopper back Wallaffords suitable clearance for the heads ofscrews: 6|. The bracket 60 includes a clamp plate,- indicated at 63,. which affords means to receive and firmly secure the adjacent end-of the Bowden cable 55 inlplace.

Tension springs 64' (only one'shown in Fig. 5) are'connectedat one end-65 to the hopper back wall2 8 and at-thei'r other ends 66,0neto each of the rearwardlyextending end portions 55 of the U-shaped lever arms 42.. These springs normally hold the U-shaped lever 4| inthe position illustrated in broken lines in Fig. 5. It should be quite evident that,,when the manually actuable member 48-is operated to raise. the plunger 56,;

the lever 41- moves, against the actionof spring 64;;inwardly toward'a stack ofsheets in the hopper. The U-shaped lever ilcarries suitable sheet penetrating and gripping means on its bight-portion. to coact with the foremost sheet in the stack so-as to engage said sheet and carryit away from the stack into aposition of discharge. Such'means. is. best illustrated inFigs. 5 through .10.

As shown-in:Figse5through l0, the'bight por tion 41' of the lever 4| is provided on its under face substantially midway between its arms 42'- portion: 4-1 so as toafford means whereby the strap iriember 61 may be adjusted transversely relative 'to the bight portion. A projection or extension 13 is provided on one edge of the downwardly ofiset medial portion of the strap member 61, .This extension is turned downwardly and is suitably recessed or notched on its free edge, as at 14, for a purpose to be explained hereinafter.

A slide 15, also fashioned from strap stock, is extended through and is slidable within the chan-, nel 68;. The rearwardly disposed projecting end portion of said slide is turned downwardly, as at 16, and issuitably apertured at 11 for a purpose to be described hereinafter. The other'or forward end of the strap slide is bent downwardly angularly outwardly to define a lip 19, and then inwardly angularly. A horizontally disposed slot 8] is provided inwardly of the free end of the portion 19. The intermediate portion of the slide 15, which lies within the channel 68, is longitudinally slotted at 82 to freely receive the end of a thumb screw 83.

The thumb screw 83 is carried in a bifurcated slide block 84 disposed beneath the strap 61 and whichaffords amounting for a pair of spring fingers 85. These spring fingers 85 preferably are formed of a single piece of spring steel wire coiled at least once about the thumbscrew 83. The strap 61 is suitably slotted at 86 for free passage of the thumb screw 83, This assembly is such that the slots 82 and 86 serve to guide the block 84 for adjustment toward or away from the down turned strap portion 13.

The two extremities of the spring fingers 85 project freely through the recess 74 in the end of the downturned stationary strap extension 13 and through the slot 8| in the front lip 19 of the slide l5. Means is provided whereby the spring fingers 85 and their mounting may be adjusted as aforesaid so as to vary the extent of projection of the free end portions or jaws 88 of said fingers through and beyond the front lip 19. To this end, a screw threaded stem l8 is secured at one end in the block 84. This stem extends rearwardiy and is threaded into a digital member or adjusting knob 89 securely mounted for free rotation in theaperture ll. A spring washer 9|, interposed between the downturned portion 16 of the slide 15 and a shoulder on the adjusting knob 89, affords friction means to resist free turning of I said knob. When adjustment of the thereby to retard continued forward motion thereof during continued forward swinging of the lever, whereupon the slide 75 is shifted rearwardly in the channel 58. During such sliding ofthe slide 15 the downturned flange 13 of the strap '67 advances relative to the fingers and, because of the restricted width of the recess 14 therein, the side edges 14a of said recess engage and draw the spring fingers together so as to thereby cause their pointedends or jaws 88 to penetrate the first sheet in the stack and grip said sheet firmly.

When they forward cycle of operation of the lever 4| is completed, the manually actuable lever B! is released and the springs 6 return to of the U-shaped lever il is accomplished by providing suitable stripper means. As illustrated, such means may comprise a transversely extending sheet metal housing 93 secured at its ends to the end walls 43. A substantially vertical wall 94 of said housing is suitably apertured, as at 95, and slotted at its ends, as at 96, so as to permit free passage, of the bight portion 41 and the sheet gripping mechanism into the interior of said housing. Obviously, the engaged sheet cannot enter the housing 83, hence movement of the pointed ends '88 of the spring fingers inwardly beyond the face of the housing wall 84 will constitute said wall stripping means. Accordingly, the sheet is forcibly withdrawn from the spring fingers and dropped by gravity through the discharge opening 92. It may then be guided by means of an adjustable guide plate 9'! into position within a typewriter or other.

business machine. I

The housing 93 is provided on its forward wall 93 with anaperture 99, suitably fitted with v a resilient washer Hill. This aperture is in alignment with and receives the digital member 89 therethrough when the sheet gripping means is wholly disposed within the housing 93. This affords means whereby the digital member 89 may be manually engaged for adjusting the relative position of the spring fingers and slide. The resilient washer Hli also constitutes abutment means for the slide 15 to limit its movement in a direction away from the stack during the operation of the lever 4i. p v

As will be best observed in Fig. 5, the downwardly turned end portionq'le of the slide it initially strikes against the resilient washer lfil, thereby retarding further movement of said slide. However, since the lever 41 has not, at this time, reached the limit of its movement in that directiorrsaid lever continues to move into the boneing, thus causing the slide E5 to be shifted forwardly relative to the channel 68. Such forward or return shifting of the slide '55 carries the walls Ma of recess 74 out of engagement with the spring fingers 85 and permits said fingers to again, return to their spread-apart condition. The spreading of the fingers insures release of the sheet in the event it had not been stripped just prior to such spreading. The mechanism is now reset to repeat its operating cycle in the manner described hereinbefore.

There may be occasions when the stack of sheets is of a size or width greater than the height of the hopper back wall 28. Should such sheets or stack .of sheets extend a material distance above the top edge of said back wall, there is a possibility of the stacks becoming misplaced to such an extent as to impair the operationjof the sheetigripping mechanism. Accordingly, means is provided whereby the project} sheet when carried into piercing contact with said sheet, and fixed means effective when the sheet has been withdrawn from the hopper to release the picker fingers from the sheet.

13. A sheet-feeding machine comprising, in combination, an adjustable standard, a frame on said standard, a hopper for a stack of sheets on said frame, a U-shaped lever mounted on said hopper for swinging movement toward and away from said stack, a sheet-grippingelement including a channelled member on said U-shaped lever, a slide in the channel, normally spaced-apart spring fingers carried by said slide and means on the channelled member cooperatively associated with the fingers to move the fingers toward each other when the slide is moved in one direction relative to said channelled member.

14. A sheet-feeding machine comprising, in combination, a frame, a hopper for a stack of sheets on said frame, a lever mounted on said hopper for swinging movement toward and away from said stack, a sheet-gripping element including a channelled member on said U-shaped lever, a slide in the channel, normally spacedapart spring fingers carried by said slide, and means on the vchannelled member cooperatively associated with the fingers to move the fingers toward each other when the slide is moved in one direction relative to said channelled member.

15. The structure recited in claim 14, having means to adjust said spring fingers for a desired depth of penetration into said stack.

16. In a sheet feeding machine, means movable toward and away from a stack of sheets to withdraw the leading sheet therefrom, said means including a reciprocal lever and means to move the lever, a slidable member on said lever, spaced spring fingers on said slidable member adapted to contact the leading sheet when the lever is swung toward said stack, said lever continuing its movement independently of the slidable member toward the stack after the sheet has been contacted, means on the lever to coact with and contract the fingers so as to penetrate and grip the sheet between the fingers during such lever movement, and means engageable by the slidable member to release the sheet when the lever reaches the limit of its movement away from the stack.

17. In a sheet feeding machine, means movable" toward and away from a stack of sheets to withdraw the leading sheet therefrom, said means including a reciprocal lever and means to move the lever, a slidable member on said lever, spaced spring fingers on said slidable member adapted to contact the leading sheet when the lever is swung toward said stack, said lever continuing its movement independently of the slidable member toward the stack after the sheet has been contacted, means to coact with and contract the fingers so as to grip the sheet between the fingers during such lever movement, and means engageable by the slidable member to release the sheet when the lever reaches the limit of its movement away from the stack.

18. In a sheet feeding machine, means movable toward and away from a stack of sheets to withdraw the leading sheet therefrom, said means including a reciprocal lever and means to move the lever, a slidable member on said lever, spaced spring fingers on said slidable member adapted to contact the leading sheet when the lever is swung toward said stack, said lever continuing its movement independently of the slidable member toward the stack after the sheet has been contacted, means to coact with and contract the fingers so as to grip the sheet between the fingers during such lever movement, and means to release the sheet when the lever reaches the limit of its movement away from the stack.

SIMON GAYNOR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 968,978 Pribil Aug. 30, 1910 1,203,657 'Sheckler Nov. 7, 1916 1,290,509 Chandler Jan. 7, 1919 1,641,841 Fernandez Sept. 6, 1927 1,798,240 Welter Mar. 31, 1931 I 1,830,889 Sague Nov. 10, 1931 1,893,725 Boomershine Jan. 10, 1933 2,128,501 Smith Aug. 30, 1938 

